Analyzing Erikson's Eight Stages Of Development

In his book, “The Life Cycle Completed”, Erik Erikson wrote about his theory of development; that there are eight stages of development and moving through each determines if a person has a healthy personality and moves onto the next stage easily, or an unhealthy personality and having trouble during the following stages (Erikson & Erikson, 1997). The industry versus inferiority stage occurs from about 6 years of age until about 12, or when puberty occurs and is the fourth stage in Erikson’s theory (McLeod, 2013). During this stage, a child will be learning the most, and their self-esteem will be influenced by their peers greatly. The child will begin to develop a sense of accomplishment of what they have done well, and if he or she does not

For example, when I was 6 in first grade, I had to move to Canada and see my grandmother because she was sick with cancer. I learned how to read, write, and how to make new friends. Just like in Erikson’s theory, I developed new hobbies such as reading and was proud whenever I finished a book, therefore reinforcing my initiative, a much needed step in boosting self esteem (Armstrong, 2012). In second grade my family came back to the United States and I further developed my confidence at another new school whenever my teacher assigned projects and I was the first one done. I learned to love to learn and play through scheduled procedures just as Erikson predicted (Erikson & Erikson, 1997). In third grade I felt incompetence when I did not get a large role in my grades play, but it helped me to build modesty. Shown in reasearch, “balance between competence and modesty is necessary to develop a healthy personality” (McLeod, 2013). As time went on both sides of industry and inferiority helped to further along my personality. I developed many different aspects of my personality and was pushed in the right direction by my parents and teachers, which is shown to be needed by research (McLeod, 2013). By the time I got to 6th grade and was nearing the end of this stage, I had many different experiences of both being competent and incompetent,